Virus: The Co-Discoverer of HIV Tracks Its Rampage and Charts the Future [Hardcover]

Luc Montagnier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1999

In the early 1980s the body of evidence for a virus of epidemic proportions was becoming irrefutable. The hunt for its cause was on and brought with it a race against time to identify the virus. In this autobiographical tale of that search, Luc Montagnier, relates the Institut Pasteur's role in investigating the AIDS virus and his group's success in identifying it before the National Health team. Filled with insights into controversies that arose over the questions of who discovered what, and when - a subject that generated almost as much new coverage as the disease itself - the book also conveys the scientific aspects of the disease and its devastating course throughout the world. Dr Montagnier's provides a commentary on critical subjects such as the possibilities for a vaccine, the current therapies available to AIDS patients and prospects for winning the battle against this virus.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What drives science forward--ruthless competition, altruistic cooperation, or a bizarre amalgam of our highest and lowest aspirations? Some insight can be found in the search for the cause of AIDS, a scientific struggle in which the personalities and problems involved are equally dramatic. The Pasteur Institute's Luc Montagnier, one of the leading lights in the long fight against AIDS, tells his story and looks to the future in Virus, a combination scientific detective story and memoir. From his childhood in war-torn France to his dogged pursuit of HIV (or LAV, as he called it), he shows the passions and obstacles that guided him to his present position as one of the foremost experts on the virus and syndrome that continues to devastate the world.

Montagnier writes of his fabled rivalry with American researcher Robert Gallo, and the often-frustrating difficulties he faced in contributing to the global conversation about the then-mysterious killer AIDS. The competition has mellowed a bit now that the author has finally been given his due by the scientific establishment. Much of his book is devoted to explaining what we know about HIV and AIDS and what we can expect to see in the near future, using language that is clear, precise, and engaging. Readers come away from Virus with the sense that ultimately scientists are more interested in doing good than in getting ahead, and that we are better served by keeping things that way. --Rob Lightner

From Publishers Weekly

Reminiscent of Paul De Kruif's 1926 classic Microbe Hunters, this highly engaging scientific adventure story by the noted French virologist who was a codiscoverer of HIV begins with a short sketch of Montagnier's youth and early career as a researcher before launching into the more exciting narrative of his pursuit of the causes of AIDS after the epidemic emerged in 1981. The most compelling aspect of the story is Montagnier's account of the very public competition between his laboratory and that of his American rival, Dr. Robert Gallo. This version is far more generous to Gallo than other published accounts, particularly Randy Shilts's in And the Band Played On. Montagnier's ability to present highly complicated scientific material in accessible language is especially useful in the second half of his memoir, when he explains the impact of the AIDS pandemic around the world. His informative narrative covers such issues as epidemiological transmission patterns ("heterosexual transmission... represents 90% of cases" worldwide); needle exchanges, which he contends "are not an incitement to drug use as some detractors claim"; and how multiple risk factors increase the possibility of HIV transmission. Montagnier ends the book with a cautiously optimistic view of the future, reckoning that more research, sensible risk reduction and humane social and medical policies may make the AIDS epidemic manageable, if not bring it completely under control. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1ST edition (November 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393039234
• ISBN-13: 978-0393039238
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,491,392 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Accessible science, September 5, 2001

By 

Mark H. Morris (Fairfield, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Virus: The Co-Discoverer of HIV Tracks Its Rampage and Charts the Future (Hardcover)

A very interesting and readable history of the science behind HIV and the AIDS epidemic. Despite a previous customer review suggesting the contrary, Dr. Montagnier clearly explains (and supports) the linkage between HIV and AIDS. He also presents this very complex virus in a language that most people can understand. Anyone interested in AIDS and the public/scientific response to it should read this book.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Principle Speaks, May 18, 2000

By 

John L. Turk (San Pablo, California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Virus: The Co-Discoverer of HIV Tracks Its Rampage and Charts the Future (Hardcover)

Rarely does one have the opportunity to to read the candid history of a compelling real-life story told by one of the principles, Dr. Luc Montagnier. Here is the step-by-step and blow-by-blow of the unpeeling of the hidden cause of the most catastrophic virus to attack modern humanity--told by its discoverer! And here also the author tells the whole story of his efforts to accord to himself his rightful position as discoverer of this virus, and of Gallo, the usurper who tried to steal it away, masking his devious acts with scientific charades! The news media ran with this story for many months, but here, now, is the whole truth.

The author gives a compelling history of his life, gives a clinic on the disease, and foretells much of what to expect as this disease ravages humankind. He also comments on the current state of medical treatments, and notes with some degree of alacrity that a vaccine will probably not be the ultimate solution. However, he does subscibe to a brighter future, but only if all nations, large and small, rich and poor would pool their efforts to educate all humans to take precautions, to live within the presence of AIDS, and to ultimately outlast it.

I found this personal account to be compelling, of heroic proportions, told in a reasoned, quiet manner, when one could honestly scream at the foul acts to be confronted. Here is a person deserving of the highest honors we could bestow upon a member of our race, a true human hero.